The Goalie
by bookworym
Summary: ON HIATUS! It was just a sport. Until the fateful game that brough two kindred spirits together. When a chance of fate makes them strike a bargain, will it bring back old feelings?
1. The Hockey Game

Set in the years after middle school for Arnold and co. Arnold plays hockey for his team. Then one day, he meets his match: a player on the opposite team.

A/n: I claim the magic of author's right and have given Arnold a last name.

Disclaimer: I obviously am not talented enough to come up with a story good enough to be a television show. The plot however is based off of the many hockey games containing my brother that I have watched in my lifetime. Though, I don't think that the goalie would be allowed to do many of things I have written the goalie doing in this chapter, so again, I claim author's right. Enjoy.

The team gathers around my coach.

"This team is tough." He says. "But we can beat them, if we work together. You guys know what to do. Now get out there and win!"

We cheer and clomp over to the door. When they call our team's name, we skate out into the rink. We skate in a circle. This is our ice. We have never lost a home game. We plan to keep the record that way. This team is one we haven't played before. Suddenly, I hear Gerald pounding his stick on the ice. THWAK, THWAK, THWAK. So, I join in. THWAK, THWAK, THWAK. It goes faster and faster. Our team and the crowd join in. Then, it ends in cheers and the whole team holding our sticks in the air. We shorten our circle to half the ice and begin to practice shooting on our goalie, Colin. Not much gets by him, thankfully. But a few of my shots not part of that afore mentioned 'not much'.

After my shot, I turn to watch the other team skate on. Whenever a team comes on to the ice, I watch their goalie. He is my target, my enemy. He is the only thing in the way of my team's victory today. This goalie doesn't look too tough. He's skinny, TINY! His padding is the only reason why he's the same size as his teammates. I grin. He won't be a problem. This'll be like taking candy from a baby. I watch as the goalie checks his gear. His helmet is dark blue with a black metal mask on the front. On either side of his helmet is a silver star with a lilac tail. A shooting star! What do you know? Not only is he small, he's a sissy too! This goalie is a joke. The goalie puts his water bottle on the net, and then joins his teammates for a skate around the half of the ice that is theirs for the first half of the game. They then proceed to skate from one side of the rink to the other, each time, hitting the boards with their sticks. They are in sync. I must admit in spite of myself, it's pretty cool. When they finish this little escapade, they all skate over to center ice and skate in a small tight circle. They begin softly at first but it eventually gets louder as they yell their team's name. I don't quite make it out, but it doesn't matter much any way, right? Finally the referee blows his whistle. We line up to one side and wait for the other team. When they have lined up, we shake hands. I grin when I come to the goalie, who is the last player in line. I shake his hand and say to him

"Good luck. You'll need it."

From behind his mask, the goalie grins in almost a wolfish way and mutters to me

"Don't hold your breath."

I glare at him as he turns away. As he slowly skates back to the net, I take note of his name: G. Green. How odd, that his last name and my own, Brown, should both be colors. I watch as another member of this kid's team skates up to him. This new boy slaps the goalie's helmet, and the goalie does the same to him. I note when this new guy turns, that he and the goalie have the same last name. The only difference is the 'J' that precedes this player's name. The new guy skates around the goal and up to me for the face off. I smirk at him and ask him under my breath

"You and the goalie related?"

When he nods slightly, I ask

"Twins or cousins?"

The guy looks at me sharply, and then stands up. He turns and makes a gesture with his hand to his cousin or brother or whatever, the goalie, who then responds with a wave of his stick. I am about to ask what that means when the ref skates over with the puck. He looks at me, and then the other guy. Then he leans over. Then it hits me, that breathless slowing of time when I watch in slow motion as the puck falls from the ref's hand. I don't have time to react, I just move. I'm fast, but the guy across from me is faster. He gets the puck and passes it to his teammate on his right, who takes it down the ice. I turn and race after the guy with the puck. He sees me coming and passes it back to Mr. J. Green, who then proceeds to pass it to another guy farther down the ice, who beats the goalie and scores. As the crowd cheers, I look up at the scoreboard. Only about fifteen seconds into the game! Damn, these guys ARE good! Well, coach didn't say this would be a picnic. I skate up to Colin and say

"Don't worry, we'll pay them back with ten of our own."

Colin nods and says

"Whatever you say, Arnold.

Then, he waves me away. I skate back to center ice for the face off. The puck drops and this time, I'm the faster one. I take the puck around Mr. J. and skate down the ice towards his brother/cousin. Suddenly, the other team's defense is there. I see Gerald out of the corner of my eye, so I pass it to him. He's on the outside, so he beats the defense and takes it to the goal. He shoots with his famous slap shot and I watch, satisfied as it soars towards then net and…

…Into the goalie's glove? Wait, that wasn't supposed to happen, it was supposed to go in! How did the goalie stop it? Gerald looks at me with surprise. I shrug at him and skate over.

"Let's try again okay?"

So we do just that. Over the next three periods, we manage to score a few times, but the other team scores just as many as we do. I wish I could have been on the ice the whole game, but fair is fair, and everyone gets a shot on my coach's team. I'm not even the proud owner of one of those shots. But that doesn't matter to me right now, as it's about to change. What DOES matter is that there are only five minutes left in this final period. We only need one more goal to win it. That should be easy. I glance over at the goalie as I skate on. He's tired and you can tell. He pulls his water bottle off of the net and tilts hits head back to drink. He squirts the water right through the cage of his mask and into his mouth. When he has had his fill, he closes the bottle and returns it to the top of the net. Then, he turns back to face the ice. We have long since switched sides, but the goalie is still just as good as he was in the beginning. I note with satisfaction that J. Green is out on the ice right no as well. Perfect. I skate up to center ice and grin at J. when he comes up. He looks at my face and then looks down at the end of his stick. The ref skates over and drops the puck. I take the puck and skate down the ice. It's a break away! I get close to the goalie and shoot. It goes in! Yes!

Unfortunately, J. comes back a minute later with a goal of his own, damn him. We spend the next three minutes fighting over the puck but not scoring. Finally, the clock stops at a minute thirty seconds for a penalty to them on one of their defensemen for sticking. Great! Now we have the advantage. We'll score and win! Suddenly, I hear chanting. I listen for a moment and then I hear it clearly. The crowd is chanting

"Shooting Star, Shooting Star!"

I glance back at the goalie, who isn't paying attention to the chanting. Instead, he is watching his coach closely. Finally the coach looks at the scoreboard and turns to the goalie. He salutes the goalie, who waves and then turns back to the game. The goalie lets out a loud ear-piercing whistle. All of his teammates on the ice turn and imitate the coach's salute to the goalie. I meet J. again at the face off. I can't be sure, but I think he lets me win the face off. I take the puck down the ice. But none of the defensemen are trying to stop me! Oh well, their loss, right? I skate down the ice with the puck. The goalie is crouched down, watching my every move. When I near the coal, I shoot. The goalie deflects the puck and passes it to J. then to my amazement, another person on the team skates up and switches sticks with the goalie! The goalie takes the offered stick and goes out of the goal, leaving the other player behind in the net. J. passes him the puck, and he takes off down the ice. I snap myself out of my stupor and tear off after the goalie. Damn, he's fast. What does this guy eat for breakfast? I know I'll never catch up to him, so as I attempt it anyway, I watch helplessly as the goalie takes the puck and scores. Now it's tied with thirty seconds left in the game. We're going to have a shootout. Crap, and I was going to the movies with Lila after this too. She'll kill me. I go to center ice to meet J. Green for the last time. But to my amazement, the goalie comes up to center ice. He's still got all of his goalie equipment on. He grins at me, and then looks over to the ref. the ref shakes his head, and drops the puck. To my amazement, G. is actually a very good forward. I win the face off, but he steals the puck from me. I watch in slow motion as at the last second, G. scores a goal and wins the game for his team. The whole team pours onto the ice and lifts G on their shoulders and skate him around the ice. My team skates off the ice dejectedly and into the locker room.

As Gerald are walking out later, I spy a girl sitting on the floor next to a hockey bag. I glance at Gerald and nod over to the girl. She is actually kind of cute, with grey blue eyes and long blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She looks like she just took a hat off of her head actually. But whatever. I walk over, dragging my hockey bag behind me. I stop in front of her and when she looks up, I ask

"Is your brother on that team?" I ask her pointing to the bag sitting next to her.

When she nods cautiously, I ask

"Does he know the goalie?"

She looks at me like I'm crazy. Then, to my surprise, she starts to laugh. She stands up and looks me right in the eye and asks

"Yeah he knows the goalie. Who's asking?"

"Name's Arnold."

"Brown?"

"Yeah. Did you watch the game?"

"I was there."

Suddenly, a voice calls out from behind us

"Hey Gee-gee! Are these guys bothering you?"

The girls looks over my shoulder and says

"No Jake, they aren't. they're asking me if I know the goalie."

I turn to see a few guys with hockey bags like the one the girl is sitting next to. This Jake guy is carrying his jersey over one arm, but I see the name printed on it.

"Hey, you're the forward." I say.

"Yup." Jake says.

He walks over to the girl and helps her stand up. The girl walks over to a stick leaning against the wall near the bag and hands it to one of the boys standing next to Jake. She grins at him and says

"Thanks for the loan Matt."

The boy smiles at her and hands her the goalie stick in his hand.

"Anytime Grace." He says.

The girl smiles at him and takes the stick. Then she turns to the hockey bag and picks it up. As she slings it over one shoulder, the helmet falls out. It rolls to my feet, and I pick it up. I stare at the silver star for a moment, and then look up at the girl who is watching me.

"Can I have my helmet back?" She asks.

"You-you're the goalie?" I ask, stunned.

"Yeah. What's your point?" She says as I hand the helmet back

"You're a girl!"

At this, she looks down at herself. She turns around once. She looks up at me and gasps.

"I am? When did that happen?" She says.

She turns to Jake and says

"Hey Jake! I'm a girl!"

Jake laughs and says

"Yeah, I've known that since we adopted you Geeg. What took you so long?"

It isn't until everyone around me laughs that I realize that this explains the two 'Greens' on the team. It also explains the goalie's smallness. I also realize that she must get this a lot, because that conversation he just had with her brother sounded very rehearsed. Gerald, who hasn't said a thing throughout the whole of this encounter now speaks up

"You look familiar. Do I know you?"

The girl considers him for a moment and then says with a smile

"Jeez tall hair, I know I've changed my name and I surely look different, but do I looks different that even YOU don't recognize me?"

We both stare at this girl. Now that I think about it, she does look really familiar. She looks like an older, prettier, less mean and without the one eyebrow version of-

"Helga!" I say.

Helga grins and says

"So you haven't lost all of your smarts. Congrats football head."

She turns to her brother and says

"Let's get out of here, Jake. I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Jake says.

Helga laughs. She zips her hockey bag shut and then follows her brother out but now before she turns and says to me

"See you guys around."

We stare, dumbly, as the door swings shut behind her. Suddenly, something she said rings home. I turn to Gerald, whose mouth is handing open and ask

"When was she adopted?"

A possible one shot. Should I write more? Review and tell me!

bookworym

This be my story. what thinkest thou?

Top of Form 1

Bottom of Form 1


	2. A Walk Under the Christmas Lights

Hey guys. I am back by popular demand. You all wanted a second chapter, so here it is. Please review and tell me if anything doesn't make sense in this chapter, because I wasn't quite planning on writing it, and it might be a little, you know, unfavorable. But, for the sake of my fans, it is being written. So, without further ado, here it is.

A/n: I know very little about figure skating moves; what they're called, how they're done, or how difficult they are. Please forgive the sparse descriptions of said moves within this chapter. Thank you very much.

Anyway. On with the story

Later that night, Arnold walked home dejectedly. It was official. Lila had dumped him for another guy, some asshole in the senior class.

"_You never have time for me anymore." _She had said.

"_I love him." _She had claimed.

Arnold sighed. He didn't really care much, really. Their relationship had been on the rocks for a while now, ever since hockey had started taking up all of his time in sophomore year. Arnold looked up at the starry skies and sighed again. The stars above his head twinkled merrily and they depressed him even more. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets and pulled the collar of his coat up over his chin and nose to ward off the cold wind that started blowing. It was only the end of November and already the snow was a few inches high. In preparation for the Christmas holiday, the storeowners had strung lines of white lights through the small trees that lined the sidewalks. As he walked under these very trees, Arnold wondered what he had done to deserve this. He tried to make a list and failed. He didn't notice where he was until he heard music. He looked up and realized that he was standing in front of the down town ice rink. The huge lights were decorated with giant candy canes and snow flakes. Arnold looked across the ice, expecting to see a large crowd of people skating around, and was surprised to only see one person skating around the ice. A girl who was currently skating around the ice backwards was the rink's only occupant. Dressed in jeans and a grey sweatshirt that hung down to her knees, the girl's arms were spread out for balance. Her gloved fingers were splayed out, and her striped scarf whipped out in front of her as she moved. Arnold came over to the edge of the rink and leaned against the board to watch as she skated to the music.

_Am I more than you bargained for yet  
I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear  
Cause that's just who I am this week  
Lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum  
I'm just a notch in your bedpost  
But you're just a line in a song  
(A notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song)"_

She skated around and jumped into a spin.

"Drop a heart, break a name  
We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team"

"We're going down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"

"_We're going down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"_

She spun around into a small tight circle close to the ice

"Is this more than you bargained for yet  
Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet  
Wishing to be the friction in your jeans  
Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him  
I'm just a notch in your bedpost  
But you're just a line in a song  
(Notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song)"

She did another jump.

"Drop a heart, break a name  
We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team"

"We're going down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"

"_We're going down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it" _

"Down, down in an earlier round  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging  
I'll be your number one with a bullet  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"

As the music slowed down, so did the girl. She skated around the ice with one skate in the air, as she leaned forward on the other.

_  
"We're going down, down in an earlier round (Take aim at myself)  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging (Take back what you said)  
I'll be your number one with a bullet (Take aim at myself)  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it" _

"We're going down, down (down, down)  
Down, down (down, down)  
We're going down, down (down, down)  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"

"We're going down, down in an earlier round (Take aim at myself)  
And Sugar, we're going down swinging (Take back what you said)  
I'll be your number one with a bullet (Take aim at myself)  
A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it"

As the last phrase was said, the girl did another triple jump. Arnold applauded the girl's performance. The girl jumped at the applause and looked over in his direction. Then she skated over. It wasn't until she was standing right in front of his that he realized who it was;

"Helga? I didn't know you knew how to figure skate!" He said, startled.

Helga grinned. She brushed a few stray strands of her blonde hair out of her face and behind her ears.

"I didn't know you liked to watch."

"Well, I uh…"

"I was just kidding around, Arnold."

"Arnold? No football head, or Arnaldo?"

"That was when I was pissed at the world."

"Really."

"Yeah. SO, what brings you all the way down here?"

"I was just walking by, and I saw you skating around, so I came over to watch."

"Hmmm, you don't seem like the 'just walking by' type. There's got to be a reason why you were here and not somewhere else."

"You want the truth?"

"Truth is good." Helga said. She skated over to his right side and leaned against the boards. He leaned her chin on her fist and looked at him intently.

"I have no idea why I am compelled to tell you this, just so you know."

"I'm told that I'm a good listener. Maybe that's why people are so willing to spill their guts to me."

"Whatever. Anyway, Lila just left me for some idiot in the senior class."

"Oh, harsh."

"Yeah. I'm in this particular part of town because the I hoped that the ride on the subway and the lights would, you know, help. But they didn't do their job, I guess. I'm still totally bummed out, but not for the reasons I'm sure you're thinking of. You see, the thing is that I don't care that she dumped me for some reason. I know I should, but I really don't care."

"Why are you bummed out then?"

"I really don't know."

"Hmmm. May I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"Did you love her?"

"I thought I did, but now, well, now I'm not so sure."

"I'm not a love doctor, but I would say that if you don't care that she ditched you, then you didn't love her as much as you thought you did."

"You're probably right."

"For once, I wish I wasn't."

"Why is that?"

"Because sometimes the truth hurts."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault. It was a long time in coming anyway. I was trying to think of a nice way to break up with her, but she beat me to the punch."

"Again, I'm sorry."

"I don't want to be pitied."

"I don't pity you."

"Thanks."

"Hmmm."

A moment of silence passed between them. Then, Helga stood up and said

"Hey, you want to skate with me?"

Arnold looked up at her for a moment, and then broke out into a smile.

"Sure. Why not?"

A note from the worm

Ta-da! What do you think? Is it as good as chapter one? If you're wondering, I'll touch on the whole adoption thing next chapter. Please forgive me for not putting it in with this one, but I needed a plan for next chapter. I'm hoping that chapter four will come to me while I'm in the process of writing chapter three, which, as of right now is dubbed 'Helga's Story'. Tune in next time!


	3. Helga's Story

Hey guys! Well la-dee-da! You liked chapter two! So I must be doing my job right! I'm glad you like my story so much. Here's chapter three, I hope it is also up to scratch. Feel free to tell me if it isn't. That is NOT an invitation to send me reviews about my characters being a mary-sue because they sound perfect. 'Cause I'm good at making my characters not mary-sueish. But if I missed something and they ARE mary-sueish, say it NICELY! But I don't think my characters are mary-sues, because I have friends who are determined to rid the world of mary sues. Thus, they would beat me into a bloody pulp if I wrote a mary sue, unless it was to make fun of them. Anyway, I'll stop ranting and start saying sensible things so you can read the story and stuff. But don't forget to press the pretty button at the end. Thanks. Anyway, enjoy my friends.

P.S.- My muses are still being uncooperative, so please forgive my other stories. My creativeness muse is weakening, because I have part of the next chapter for 'A New Kind of Magic' written in an email to myself. But the muses for my other stories are still adamant with their demands for a sacrifice of some form of caffeine for every chapter that they help me write. I have great hopes that they will be appeased by something smaller, like a sacrifice for every three chapters or something/ I'll keep you posted, and I'll put up the next chapter for A New Kind Of Magic A.S.A.P. thanks for being so understanding.

And now for review answers.

To blondegirlshave fun: Thank you for the review. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

To Skittles731: Hey! I remember you! You reviewed some of other earlier stories! Nice to see you again! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

To acosta perez jose ramiro: I'm glad you liked my dialouge so much. Am I improving?

Disclaimer: YES! I DO OWN HEY ARNOLD AND ALL OF ITS CHARACTERS::world explodes: Oops, heh heh….

After Arnold had rented a pair of skates, he glided out to meet Helga in the center of the ice. She mockingly held out her hand to him and bowed at the waist.

"May I have this dance?" She asked sweetly.

He grinned and took her hand. She stood and her eyes widened and she gave a small yelp of surprise when he pulled her by that hand around the ice. He turned around and began skating backwards. He took hold of her other hand in the process. She smiled at him nervously

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Skating with you, of course."

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind, you know."

"I guessed that from your face. But, what were you going to do, teach me how to do jumps and spins?"

"I was considering it, yeah." She said as she fought to get better balance.

"Why would I want to learn how to figure skate?" He scoffed

"Maybe because figure skating is the reason why I beat your ass in that hockey game earlier?"

"Is that why you could skate so fast, even with all that padding?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, maybe I will take it up."

Helga laughed. To his great surprise, Arnold felt himself smiling because he had made her laugh. He realized that he was grinning like an idiot and shook his head before Helga noticed and laughed or made fun of him.

"So," He said, to make conversation. "What unnatural force of nature brought you back here?" He asked. He released her right hand and swung over to her left side. He continued to hold her left hand as they skated along.

"Hmmmm, lots of stuff." Helga said unconvincingly.

"Okay, now I know I'm not going to get a straight answer out of you."

"Maybe you're just not asking me the right questions."

"Okay. Why are you back here to our humble little corner of the world? I thought you wanted to get out and never look back."

"I did. But that was before."

"Before what?"

"Before I was adopted, of course."

"When were you adopted? Better yet, why were you put up for adoption?"

"I was put up for adoption about two months after I left town. I was adopted about six months later."

"But WHY were you put up for adoption."

There was a moment of silence where the only sound was the faint music coming from the speakers and their skates gliding on the ice. Arnold was about give up on the idea that Helga would answer when she said slowly

"I don't know if I'm ready to tell you."

This made Arnold smile slightly. So he answered

"Hey! I spilled my guts to you!"

"Yeah, but it's different."

"Different how?"

"Your gut spilling didn't change my entire opinion of who you are or were. It doesn't change my opinion of the way you act or acted, and it won't cause you to candy coat everything you say to make sure you don't bring up painful memories."

"My opinion of you won't change, Helga."

"My name is Grace now."

"Grace?"

"Yeah."

They skated in silence for a moment. The music changed to a Christmas song. Arnold listened for a moment and realized it was 'White Christmas'. He grinned.

'_Wouldn't it be romantic if it started to snow right now? Wait, did I just say ROMANTIC?'_ Arnold shook his head vigorously.

"Arnold, are you alright?" Helga asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I' fine. So where'd you get the name grace from?"

"Helga **G**. Pataki, remember?"

"Your middle name is-er was Grace?"

"Yeah. I decided that Grace wouldn't go with my tough girl image, so I just used the initial."

"Wow."

"Yeah."

"Hey, er, Grace?"

"Yeah?"

"My opinion of you just changed."

At this, Helg-err, Grace stopped skating. When Arnold felt the jerk on his arm. He turned to see why she had stopped. She was looking at him funny, her eyes looked all shiny and-

"Hey, you're not going to CRY, are you?"

Grace smiled and rubbed her eyes furiously. As she did this, she shook her head vigorously.

"No, I'm not going to cry."

"That's good because if you did cry, I'd have to hug you. And I'm not sure if I'm ready to totally let go of that tough girl image of yours just yet. It was pounded into my head, you might say, hmmm?"

This made Grace laugh some more. They skated on in silence for a moment, neither knowing exactly what to say. Every time something came to mind for him to say, Arnold decided not to say it. It was only after they had completed three circuits of the rink that Grace smiled at Arnold and said

"Don't you just hate awkward silences?"

Arnold smiled and nodded in agreement, grateful that she had been the first to speak.

"So," She continued. "Do you still want to learn how to figure skate, or should I just shut up and leave the subject alone?"

"You're kidding, right?"

"I don't kid about figure skating, Arnold."

"Come on, I'm a GUY! Guys don't figure skate."

"Actually, yes they do. I've dated a few of them before, I'll have you know."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"You need to get out more."

"No shit, Sherlock."

They skated in silence for another moment and then Helg-er Grace said

"Remember when I told you I was pissed at the world?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It was a lie."

"How so?"

"I wasn't pissed at the world, exactly. I was pissed at my life for being out of control, and pissed at my self for letting it get that way. But instead of taking it out on something normal, like a sport or something, I withdrew and became the Helga you knew instead of the real me. I lashed out at everyone, most of all you. I'm sorry about the way I treated you, if it's any consolation."

"I'm still confused. That doesn't explain why."

Grace sighed sadly and looked down at her skates for a minute, as though they might give her an explanation. She looked up at him with a smile and said with a sigh

"You aren't going to make this easy, are you?"

"Nope, probably not."

"Okay then. But when you walk off the rink, don't blame me, okay?"

"It's a deal. Now then my dear, spill."

"Ever since I was a little girl, I have been a victim of neglect. My parents could barely remember my name, and they forgot about me a lot of the time. My sister took all of their attention away from me. She was their perfect child. Me, I was just a mistake. So, as a way of correcting that mistake, they pretended that they had never made it. Thus, they pretended I was there. Or at least, that's my take on it."

"I'm sorry."

"This might sound familiar, but I don't want your pity. It's in the past. In fifth grade, when we studied abuse in health class, I realized that I could get out, just like I always wished I could. But I figured out that no one was going to believe me because I didn't report it sooner, so I got proof to convince people of my predicament. I walked around with a tape recorder for a week, and then went to the police. I was taken to an adoption facility in another city about two weeks later. I realized that it would be all right to act like my normal self, and I did. A few months later, the Greens, who were my foster family, adopted me. Now, I'm back in town for the year because my father's company wants him to work here for a year."

"Your foster father, right?"

"Of course. My blood father is no longer allowed to speak to me or come within three hundred feet of me."

"Why are you here, then?"

"He and my mother moved out to live with Olga because she's pregnant."

"I see."

There was another awkward silence. Arnold didn't know what to say. Grace had been right. His opinion of her HAD changed. Her story now explained a lot. But now he didn't know what to say.

'_What should I do now?'_ He wondered.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. He gathered his courage, and stopped skating. Grace turned to look at him quizzically. He reached forward and pulled her into a hug. She resisted for a moment, and then returned the gesture. When they pulled apart, she smiled at him sadly, and said

"So, your opinion did change."

"In a good way, I assure you. The image of hateful, spiteful girl who lashed out for no reason has been replaced by a girl who lashed out because she was afraid to let others in too close."

Grace giggled.

"Would you believe me if I told you that it wasn't only reason why I lashed out at you in particular?"

"In my opinion, anything is possible with you now."

"Okay. You're going to laugh, but I have got to tell you. You were the first person who ever paid attention to me like that. Remember? The first day of preschool, when you told me that you liked my hair bow?"

"Yeah, I do! You were soaked!"

"I developed a massive border line obsession crush on you on that day."

Arnold stared at her.

"Really?"

"Yup. I didn't know how to tell you, so I kept it a secret. In fact, I think the only one who ever figured it out was…"

"Who?"

"Umm, Lila."

"Good for her."

"Arnold,"

"No, it's fine."

"Actually, if it makes you feel any better, the only reason why I told her is because I wanted to be Juliet in the school play."

"Why would you want that?"

At this, Grace looked down and blushed.

"So I could…could kiss you."

"Oh."

Grace suddenly looked up.

"Hey! I'll race around the rink!" And with that, she skated off. Arnold laughed and raced after her. They were neck and neck, but Grace won by about a foot. They flopped down on the ice near the entrance to the rink. Grace flopped onto her back and stared up at the sky. Between deep breaths, Arnold said with a smile

"No…fair…you…got…a…head…start!"

Grace sat up and smiled at him.

"Nah, I'm just faster." She said with a scoff.

"Yeah right."

"Get used to it Arnold. Cause with the way you're skating, it won't be changing any time soon."

"Hmph."

"Aw, don't pout. You look cuter when you do that."

"So I was cute before?"

"DUH!"

"Whoa, when did that happen?"

"I'm a girl, what do you expect?"

"Um, for you to beat me up and laugh about it?"

"That was Helga. Grace is confident, and flat out tells someone if she thinks that they are cute."

"Right. So, by the way you're talking, it sounds like you could teach me to skate faster."

"No, but I could show you how I learned to skate faster."

"How?"

"Figure skating."

"You are determined, aren't you?"

"What was your first clue?"

"Hmmm."

"Oh, come on Arnold! It wouldn't kill you to try, now would it?

"No, but the guys would never let me hear the end of it!"

"Tell them you're taking intensive skating lessons to improve your skills so you won't get your ass beat by a girl again. After they start ranting about me be a girl, mention that the training involves figure skating. Maybe they'll ignore the comment."

"Okay, okay! You've convinced me!"

"Good."

A car pulled up to the street and honked the horn. Grace looked over at it. She stood up and brushed herself off.

"My ride is here." She said. "Can we set a later date for the first lesson?"

"Sure. Err; I'm free Saturday night. How's that?"

"It's good. How about here at eight?" Grace asked over her shoulder as she skated to the entrance the rink. She walked onto the padded floor and clomped over to a bench and began to unlace her skates. When she had finished, she slipped her shoes on and tied the laces of her skates together and slung them over her right shoulder. When she was done, she looked at him.

"Is here at seven okay with you?"

When he nodded, she smiled and slung the skates over her shoulder so that one hung down her front and the other hung down her back. The she said

"See you then."

"Bye." He answered

Then, with a wave, Grace ran over to the car and got in the back seat. Arnold watched the drive out of sight. Then, he took off his skates, returned them, and got on the subway to go home.

Eh voila! Chapter three, she is done! Reviews are greatly appreciated! I'm sorry that this chapter was almost all dialogue. It was necessary for Helga's Story.

bookworym


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